Pagan races of the Malay Peninsula - Sabrizain.org

330
WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS
a dozen times, the object being to make the bamboo
case soft and yielding. The broken edges of the nodes,
which still remained inside the bamboo, were removed
in the ordinary way. The bottom node, however,
was left until the completion of the following process.'
The end of the blowpipe being pushed into the
bamboo case as far as it will go without forcing, the
remainder is then driven home by bringing down the
extremities smartly upon a block of wood. This pro-
cess is assisted by the warming, and the bottom node
already mentioned is then cut away. Use is made
of the long cleaning-rod (" bingrot ") to give a
further polish to the interior of the tube, the thin
end being first inserted, and then the thicker end,
with a piece of skate-skin attached. The final polish is
effected by substituting the leaves of the " mamp'las "
for the skate-skin, this part of the process alone taking
two or three days to complete. The mouthpiece is then
made out of soft wood smoothened and coated over
with a layer of gutta-percha to give it more durability.
A small hole is made in the centre of the node (at the
lower end) to let the air in, and the shaft is softened by
steaming and straightened by eye. When the node is
finally excised, a rod with twisted bamboo shavings
attached to it is pushed down inside the tube, and
worked to and fro to clear away the remains of the
node."
The Darts and the Quiver.
The darts, which measure from " breast to breast "
(of the maker), are described as being manufactured
from the hard outer cuticle of a palm called " kredok "
{Cyrtostachis Iceca)^ Each of the spaces between
' v. -St. ii. 103 seqq. 2 /(, dulds) is also said to be used by the
3 The wood of tapioca [Manihot Benua.—Vaughan-Stevens, ii. 106.